Despite Trump Attacks, Carbon Clean 200 Companies Financially Outperform Fossil Fuel and All-World Benchmarks
MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, ryon@asyousow.org, 310-579-2188
12th Clean200 list shows global sustainable clean energy economy is experiencing exponential growth around the world
EL CERRITO, CALIFORNIA—FEB. 20, 2025—As You Sow and Corporate Knights today released the 12th cohort of the Carbon Clean200™, a global list of 200 publicly traded companies leading the global sustainable clean energy economy. Together, these industry-leading companies generated $2.5 trillion in revenue from services and products that reduce demand for fossil fuels and water, while offering investors more than double the returns of the fossil-fuel-heavy MSCI ACWI Energy Index. They also beat the global benchmark MSCI ACWI by 30% from July 1, 2016, to January 29, 2025.
The latest Clean200 list will be available to the public on February 20, 2025, as we present our findings with a live webinar and discussion. Panelists will highlight companies that were added/removed from the list, discuss how these companies performed, how the world has changed, and decipher global trends. Register here for the webinar to be held on Thursday, February 20, 2025 at 10:30AM EST.
Clean200 data shows that for the large companies that make up 80% of global market capitalization, sustainable revenues and capital expenditures are growing more than twice as fast as everything else. This trend holds across sectors and regions and puts sustainable companies on a path to dominate the global economy by the end of the next decade, despite political attacks.
Key findings include:
The top 10 companies on the list by revenue include Apple, Contemporary Amperex Technology, Microsoft, Tesla, TSMC, and Volkswagen.
Thirty-five countries are represented in the Clean200, including the U.S. (41), China (21), Japan (18), Germany (14), and France and Canada (11 each).
Clean200 companies earned over $2.5 trillion in sustainable revenue during 2023 (the most recent year for which full year results are available).
Clean200 companies generated a total return of 190.9% on a sustainable revenue-weighted basis outperforming the MSCI ACWI index (162.0%) and the MSCI ACWI/Energy Index of fossil fuel companies (76.7%) on Total Return Gross — USD Basis from the Clean200 inception of July 1, 2016, to Jan. 29, 2025.
$10,000 invested in the Clean200 on July 1, 2016, would have grown to $29,090 by Jan. 29, 2025, versus $17,670 for the MSCI ACWI/Energy benchmark for fossil fuel.
The industrial sector accounts for 52 companies on the list, followed by the Information Technology (32), and consumer discretionary and materials (29 each). IT companies had the highest total sustainable revenue, a cumulative total of over $687 billion.
The top 10 companies that contributed the most to the Clean200’s performance over the past year were from China (3), the U.S. (2), France (2), Taiwan (1), Germany (1) and the U.K. (1). They include sustainably-certified tech hardware, electric vehicles, and electric rail equipment.
“In 2016, we created the Clean200 in response to investors saying, ‘If we divest fossil fuels, there is nothing to invest in,’” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow and report co-author. “The Clean200 has consistently demonstrated that the ‘clean energy’ future of eight years ago is now the clean energy present. This year, the scale and global diversity of leading companies continue to expand and redefine the term ‘cleantech’ to be any company with products and services that will reduce demand for fossil fuels and water.”
“It is telling that clean energy stocks generated more than double the returns of fossil fuel stocks since 2016, despite political headwinds, underlining that stock markets care more about economic materiality of the parabolic growth in clean energy than the political leanings of the day,” said Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights and report co-author.
The Clean200 utilizes the Corporate Knights Sustainable Revenue database, which tracks the percentage of revenue companies earn from sustainable economy themes ranging from green power to electric vehicles to plant protein and smart buildings.
The list excludes companies that are flagged on Corporate Knights Red Flag Companies List and As You Sow’s Invest Your Values suite of mutual fund transparency tools that identify companies involved in fossil fuels, deforestation, the prison industrial complex, weapons, and tobacco, as well as Corporate Knights’ exclusionary screens which form part of its Global 100 methodology.
“We will continue to track and share the emergence of the clean energy economic powerhouse,” Behar continued. “There is clear financial evidence showing a broad spectrum of companies defining this economic transformation away from an extractive economy and into a regenerative economy based on justice and sustainability. The job growth and resilience demonstrated by these companies are our greatest hope in controlling climate change and achieving a safe, just, and sustainable world that benefits all.”
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ABOUT AS YOU SOW
As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility and advancing values-aligned investing. Its issue areas include climate change, ocean plastics, pesticides, racial justice, workplace diversity, and executive compensation.
Founded in 2002, Corporate Knights is an independent media and research company committed to advancing a sustainable economy. Corporate Knights maintains theSustainable Economy Intelligence Database, which is the research engine behind its flagship ranking of The Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, and was recently selected by Climate Arc to provide green revenue and CapEx data for the companies being targeted by Climate Action 100+.
**As You Sow and Corporate Knights are not investment advisors, nor do we provide financial planning, legal, or tax advice. Nothing in the Carbon Clean200 Report shall constitute or be construed as an offering of financial instruments or as investment advice or investment recommendations.